BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / May 20, 2020 / The future of payments is digital. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either mistaken or grossly misinformed. Some innovative fintech startups are ready to write this future in their own language. Such is the optimism of those looking to disrupt the digital payments space. Brisbane, Australia-based global payments platform, EML Payments is harnessing the power of globalization and technological advances to make cross-border payments simple, secure, and ridiculously cheap.

Highlights from the 9-month period ended March 31, 2020

Founded in 2001, EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) has grown to become one of the biggest players in the digital payments space. The company reported its fiscal 2020 third-quarter results on May 20, 2020.

In the nine months ended March 31, 2020, EML Payments posted a Gross Debit Volume of $9.83 billion. This reflected a growth of 55% from the previous corresponding period (PCP). Revenues ticked 20% higher to $87.1 million. The EBITDA also impressed with a 24% growth after topping $27 million. This factored in $2.2 million of breakage from Dec. 2019 activations recognized in April this year.

EML posted an improved gross profit margin of 75.9% up from 73.7% in the previous period. The company's operating cash flow also increased by $18.2 million over the first half of the fiscal year 2020 to $27.3 million. This represented an EBITDA conversion rate of 101% partly due to breakage receipts from gift cards sold in previous periods.

EML is looking to integrate PFS into the fabric of its business model within the next 24 months. This is part of the company's long-term strategic plan to diversify its revenue streams across different sectors of the digital economy. Robert Shore, Group Chief Financial Officer of EML Payments said, 'We have had a long-term strategy to deliver revenue and earnings diversification - both through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Prior to the acquisition of Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), revenue from mall gift cards represented 65% of group revenues (H1FY20) and prior to Covid-19 could have been expected to be approximately 55% for the full year.'

'The acquisition of PFS was a central plank in our strategy of re-balancing revenue across our segments. For example, if PFS had been in the EML consolidated financials for the month of March 2020, 56% of revenues would have come from General Purpose Reloadable (GPR), 37% from Gift & Incentive (G&I) and 7% from Virtual Account Numbers (VANS),' Shore added.

PFS is a white-label payments provider in Europe, where it has won multiple awards for the quality of services it provides. EML is looking to capitalize on PFS cutting edge banking-as-a-service technology to become one of the leading prepaid fintech enablers in the world.

Key business verticals

EML operates through four primary verticals: ControlPay, Salary Packaging, Fintech and Digital Banking, and Gaming. While COVID-19 has affected the company's expected performance for the fiscal year 2020, there is a possibility that the pandemic could also accelerate the adoption of digital payments in the coming months.

ControlPay: This segment of the business facilitates payments to consumers through a fully digitized card residing on a mobile device. EML has signed contracts with three companies in a bid to strengthening its grasp of the Neo Lending space. It is also running a pilot program with Zip (ASX:ZIP) for its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service.

Salary Packaging: Total salary packaging benefit accounts stood at 228,00 as of April 30, up from 187,000 in Dec. 2019. The company launched the service in South Wales and expects to hit 300,000 packaging benefit accounts by June 2021.

Fintech and Digital Banking: Since the start of the year, EML has signed 15 new contracts with fintech and digital banking companies. Its latest acquisition PFS has 50 programs running. The average PFS volume in January increased by 38.3% PCP on a constant currency basis. However, Gross Debit Volume slowed with a slight growth of 12% in April versus the previous period.

Gaming: Despite a lack of live sporting events amid the COVID-19 pandemic, gross debit volume in gaming remained resilient only easing 10% for March and April versus the prior period in 2019. EML has already signed 3 contracts with US companies since the start of the year.

With EML, you will be empowered with more control, transparency, and flexibility over your payment processes. Whether you serve businesses or consumers, EML makes your payment processing more efficient and secure from start to finish, while helping you improve customer service and increase brand loyalty.

Our portfolio offers innovative financial technology that provides solutions for payouts, gifts, incentives and rewards, and supplier payments. We issue mobile, virtual and physical card solutions to some of the largest corporate brands around the world, processing billions of dollars in payments each year across 28 countries in North America, Europe, and Australia.